Lloyd - Roman Pronunciation of Latin

7/30/2019 Lloyd - Roman Pronunciation of Latin

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The Roman Pronunciation of Latin

Frances E. Lord


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Table of Contents

The Roman Pronunciation of Latin..................................................................................................................1

Frances E. Lord........................................................................................................................................1INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................1PART I. WHY WE USE IT.....................................................................................................................2SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS................................................................................................................3DIPHTHONGS........................................................................................................................................5CONSONANTS.......................................................................................................................................7QUANTITY...........................................................................................................................................23ACCENT...............................................................................................................................................23PITCH....................................................................................................................................................26PART II. HOW TO USE IT..................................................................................................................27ELISION................................................................................................................................................31QUANTITY...........................................................................................................................................31ACCENT...............................................................................................................................................32


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Frances E. Lord

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INTRODUCTIONPART I. WHY WE USE IT.SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.DIPHTHONGS.CONSONANTS.QUANTITY.ACCENT.PITCH.PART II. HOW TO USE IT.ELISION.QUANTITY.ACCENT.

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THE ROMAN PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN, WHY WE USE IT AND HOW TO USE IT BY FRANCESE. LORD, PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN WELLESLEY COLLEGE BOSTON, U.S.A.

INTRODUCTION

The argument brought against the 'Roman pronunciation' of Latin is twofold: the impossibility of perfecttheoretical knowledge, and the difficulty of practical attainment.

If to know the main features of the classic pronunciation of Latin were impossible, then our obvious coursewould be to refuse the attempt; to regard the language as in reality dead, and to make no pretence of readingit. This is in fact what the English scholars generally do. But if we may know substantially the sounds of thetongue in which Cicero spoke and Horace sung, shall we give up the delights of the melody and the rhythmand content ourselves with the thought form? Poetry especially does not exist apart from sound; sense alone

will not constitute it, nor even sense and form without sound.

But if it is true that the task of practical acquisition is, if not impossible, extremely difficult, 'the work of alifetime,' as the objectors say, do the results justify the expenditure of time and labor?

The position of the Englishspeaking peoples is not the same in this as that of Europeans. Europeans have notthe same necessity to urge them to the 'Roman pronunciation.' Their own languages represent the Latin moreor less adequately, in vowel sounds, in accent, and even, to some extent, in quantity; so that with them, all isnot lost if they translate the sounds into their own tongues; while with us, nothing is leftsound, accent,quantity, all is gone; none of these is reproduced, or even suggested, in English.

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We believe a great part of our difficulty, in this country, lies in the fact that so few of those who study andteach Latin really know what the 'Roman pronunciation' is, or how to use it. Inquiries are constantly beingmade by teachers, Why is this so? What authority is there for this? What reason for that?

In the hope of giving help to those who desire to know the Why and the How this little compendium is made;in the interest of timeandlabor saving uniformity, and in the belief that what cannot be fully known or

perfectly acquired does still not prevent our perceiving, and showing in some worthy manner and to somesatisfactory degree, how, as well as what, the honeytongued orators and divine poets of Rome spoke or sung.

In the following pages free use has been made of the highest English authorities, of Oxford and Cambridge.Quotations will be found from Prof. H. A. J. Munro's pamphlet on Pronunciation of Latin, and from Prof. A.J. Ellis' book on Quantitative Pronunciation of Latin; also from the pamphlet issued by the Cambridge(Eng.) Philological Society, on the Pronunciation of Latin in the Augustan Period.

In the present compendium the chief points of divergence from the general American understanding of the'Roman' method are in respect of the diphthong AE and the consonantal U. In these cases the pronunciationherein recommended for the AE is that favored by Roby, Munro, and Ellis, and adopted by the CambridgePhilological Society; for the V, or U consonant, that advocated by Corssen, A. J. Ellis, and Robinson Ellis.

PART I. WHY WE USE IT.

In general, the greater part of our knowledge of the pronunciation of Latin comes from the Latin grammarians,whose authority varies greatly in value; or through incidental statements and expressions of the classic writersthemselves; or from monumental inscriptions. Of these three, the first is inferior to the other two in quality,but they in turn are comparatively meagre in quantity.

In the first place, we know (a most important piece of knowledge) that, as a rule, Latin was pronounced aswritten. This is evident from the fact, among others, that the same exceptions recur, and are mentioned overand over again, in the grammarians, and that so much is made of comparatively, and confessedly, insignificantpoints. Such, we may be sure, would not have been the case had exceptions been numerous. Then we have theauthority of Quintilianthan whom is no higher. He speaks of the subtleties of the grammarians:

[Quint. I. iv. 6.] Interiora velut sacri hujus adeuntibus apparebit multa rerum subtilitas, quae non modo acuereingenia puerilia sed exercere altissimam quoque eruditionem ac scientiam possit.

And says:

[Id, ib. iv. 7.] An cujuslibet auris est exigere litterarum sonos?

But after citing some of those idiosyncrasies which appear on the pages of all the grammarians, he finally

sums up the matter in the following significant words:

[Id. ib. vii. 30, 31.] Indicium autem suum grammaticus interponat his omnibus; nam hoc valere plurimumdebet. Ego (note the ego) nisi quod consuetudo obtinuerit sic scribendum quidque judico, quomodo sonat. Hicenim est usus litterarum, ut custodiant voces et velut depositum reddant legentibus, itaque id exprimere debentquod dicturi sumus.

This is still a characteristic of the Italian language, so that one may by books, getting the rules from thegrammarians, learn to pronounce the language with a good degree of correctness.

On this point Professor Munro says:


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We see in the first volume of the Corpus Inscr. Latin. a map, as it were, of the language spread open beforeus, and feel sure that change of spelling meant systematical change of pronunciation: coira, coera, cura;aiquos, aequos, aecus; queicumque, quicumque, etc., etc.

And again:

We know exactly how Cicero or Quintilian did or could spell; we know the syllable on which they placed theaccent of almost every word; and in almost every case we already follow them in this. I have the convictionthat in their best days philological people took vast pains to make the writing exactly reproduce the sounding;and that if Quintilian or Tacitus spelt a word differently from Cicero or Livy, he also spoke it so fardifferently.

Three chief factors are essential to the Latin language, and each of these must be known with some gooddegree of certainty, if we would lay claim to an understanding of Roman pronunciation.

These are:

(1) Sounds of the letters (vowels, diphthongs, consonants);

(2) Quantity;

(3) Accent.

SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.

VOWELS.

The vowels are five: A, E, I, O, U.

These when uttered alone are always long.

[Pompei. Comm. ad Donat. Keil. v. V. p. 101 et al.] Vocales autem quinque sunt: A, E, I, O, U. Istae quinque,quando solae proferuntur, longae sunt semper: quando solas litteras dicis, longae sunt. A sola longa est; E solalonga est.

A is uttered with the mouth widely opened, the tongue suspended and not touching the teeth:

[Ars Gram. Mar. Vict. de orthographia et de metrica ratione, I. vi. 6.] A littera rictu patulo, suspensa nequeimpressa dentibus lingua, enuntiatur.

E is uttered with the mouth less widely open, and the lips drawn back and inward:

[Id. ib. vi. 7.] E quae sequitur, de represso modice rictu oris, reductisque introrsum labiis, effertur.

I will voice itself with the mouth half closed and the teeth gently pressed by the tongue:

[Id. ib. vi. 8.] I semicluso ore, impressisque sensim lingua dentibus, vocem dabit.

O (long) will give the tragic sound through rounded opening, with lips protruded, the tongue pendulous inthe roof of the mouth:


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[Id. ib. vi. 9.] O longum autem, protrusis labiis rictu tereti, lingua arcu oris pendula, sonum tragicum dabit.

U is uttered with the lips protruding and approaching each other, like the Greek ou:

[Id. ib. vi. 10.] U litteram quotiens enuntiamus, productis et coeuntibus labris efferemus... quam nisi per ouconjunctam Graeci scribere ac pronuntiare non possunt.

Of these five vowels the grammarians say that three (A, I, U) do not change their quality with their quantity:

[Pompei. Comm. ad Donat. Keil. v. V. p. 101.] De istis quinque litteris tres sunt, quae sive breves sive longaeejusdemmodi sunt, A, I, U: similiter habent sive longae sive breves.

But two (E, O) change their quality:

[Id. ib.] O vero et E non sonant breves. E aliter longa aliter brevis sonat. Dicit ita Terentianus (hoc dixit)'Quotienscumque E longam volumus proferri, vicina sit ad I (i with macron to show length) litteram.' Ipsesonus sic debet sonare, quomodo sonat I (i without macron to show short) littera. Quando dicis evitat, vicinadebet esse, sic pressa, sic angusta, ut vicina sit ad I litteram. Quando vis dicere brevem e simpliciter sonat. Olonga sit an brevis. Si longa est, debet sonus ipse intra palatum sonare, ut si dices orator, quasi intra sonat,intra palatum. Si brevis est debet primis labris sonare, quasi extremis labris, ut puta sic dices obit. Habes istamregulam expressam in Terentiano. Quando vis exprimere quia brevis est, primis labris sonat; quando exprimislongam, intra palatum sonat.

[Ars Gram. Mar. Vict. de Orthog. et de Metr. Rat., I. vi. 9.] O qui correptum enuntiat, nec magno hiatu labrareserabit, et retrorsum actam linguam tenebit.

It would thus seem that the long E of the Latin in its prolongation draws into the I sound, somewhat as if Iwere subjoined, as in the English vein or Italian fedele.

The grammarians speak of the obscure sound of I and U, short and unaccented in the middle of a word; so thatin a number of words I and U were written indifferently, even by classic writers, as optimus or optumus,maximus or maxumus. This is but a simple and natural thing. The same obscurity occurs often in English, as,for instance, in words ending in able or ible. How easy, for instance, to confuse the sound and spelling in suchwords as detestable and digestible.

[Serg. Explan. Art. Donat. Keil. v. II. p. 475.] Hae etiam duae I et U ... interdum expressum suum sonum nonhabent: I, ut vir; U, ut optumus. Non enim possumus dicere virproducta I, nec optumus producta U; undeetiam mediae dicuntur. Et hoc in commune patiuntur inter se, et bene dixit Donatus has litteras in quibusdamdictionibus expressum suum sonum non habere. Hae etiam mediae dicuntur, quia quibusdam dictionibusexpressum sonum non habent,... ut maxume pro maxime.... In quibusdam nominibus non certum exprimunt

sonum; I, ut virmodo I (with macron) opprimitur; U ut optumus modo U perdit sonum.

Priscian says:

[Keil. v. II. p. 465.] Cur per VI scribitur (virum)? Quia omnia nomina a VI syllaba incipientia per VIscribuntur exceptis bitumine et bile, quando fel significat, et illis quae a bis adverbio componuntur, ut biceps,bipatens, bivium. Cur sonum videtur habere in hac dictione I vocalis U litterae Graecae? Quia omnis dictio aVI syllaba brevi incipiens, D vel T vel M vel R vel X sequentibus, hoc sono pronuntiatur, ut video, videbam,videbo: quia in his temporibus VI corripitur, mutavit sonum in U: in praeterito autem perfecto, et in aliis inquibus producitur, naturalem servavit sonum, ut vidi, videram, vidissem, videro. Similiter vitium mutat sonum,quia corripitur; vita autem non mutat, quia producitur. Similiter vim mutat quia corripitur, vimen autem non


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mutat quia producitur. Similiter viret virgo mutant, quia corripiuntur: virus autem et vires non mutant, quiaproducuntur. Vix mutant, quia corripitur: vixi non mutant, quia producitur. Hoc idem plerique solent etiam inillis dictionibus facere, in quibus a FI brevi incipiunt syllabae sequentibus supra dictis consonantibus, ut fides,

perfidus, confiteor, infimus, firmus. Sunt autem qui non adeo hoc observant, cum de VI nemo fere dubitat.

From this it would seem that in the positions above mentioned VI short and with some speakers FI

shorthad an obscure, somewhat thickened, sound, not unlike that heard in the English words virgin, firm, anot unnatural obscuration. As Donatus says of it:

[Keil. v. IV. p. 367.] Pingue nescio quid pro naturali sono usurpamus.

Sometimes, apparently, this tendency ran into excess, and the long I was also obscured; while sometimes theshort I was pronounced too distinctly. This vice is commented on by the grammarians, under the nameiotacism:

[Pompei. Comm. ad Donat. Keil. v. V. p. 394.] Iotacismum dicunt vitium quod per I litteram vel pinguius velexilius prolatam fit. Galli pinguius hanc utuntur, ut cum dicunt ite, non expresse ipsam proferentes, sed inter Eet I pinguiorem sonum nescio quem ponentes. Graeci exilius hanc proferunt, adeo expressioni ejus tenuistudentes, ut si dicant jus, aliquantulum de priori littera sic proferant, ut videas dissyllabam esse factam.Romanae linguae in hoc erit moderatio, ut exilis ejus sonus sit, ubi ab ea verbum incipit, ut ite, aut pinguior,ubi in ea desinit verbum, ut habui, tenui; medium quendam sonum inter E et I habet, ubi in medio sermoneest, ut hominem. Mihi tamen videtur, quando producta est, plenior vel acutior esse; quando autem brevis estmedium sonum exhibere debet, sicut eadem exempla quae posita sunt possunt declarare.

The grammarians also note the peculiar relation of U to Q, as in the following passage:

[Serg. Explan. Art. Donat. Keil. v. IV. p. 475.] U vero hoc accidit proprium, ut interdum nec vocalis necconsonans sit, hoc est ut non sit littera, cum inter Q et aliquam vocalem ponitur. Nam consonans non potestesse, quia ante se habet alteram consonantem, id est Q; vocalis esse non potest, quia sequitur illam vocalis, utquare, quomodo.

DIPHTHONGS.

In Marius Victorinus we find diphthongs thus defined:

[Mar. Vict. Gaisford, I. v. 54.] Duae inter se vocales jugatae ac sub unius vocis enuntiatione prolatae syllabamfaciunt natura longam, quam Graeci diphthongon vocant, veluti geminae vocis unum sonum, ut AE, OE, AU.

And more fully in the following paragraph:

[Mar. Vict. Gaisford, I. v. 6.] Sunt longae naturaliter syllabae, cum duae vocales junguntur, quas syllabasGraeci diphthongos vocant; ut AE, OE, AU, EU, EI: nam illae diphthongi non sunt quae fiunt per vocales lococonsonantium positas; ut IA, IE, II, IO, IU, VA, VE, VI, VO, VU.

Of these diphthongs EU occurs,except in Greek words, only in heus, heu, eheu; in seu, ceu, neu. Inneuterand neutiquam the E is probably elided.

Diphthongs ending in I, viz., EI, OI, UI, occur only in a few interjections and in cases of contraction.

While in pronouncing the diphthong the sound of both vowels was to some extent preserved, there are manyindications that (in accordance with the custom of making a vowel before another vowel short) the first vowel


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of the diphthong was hastened over and the second received the stress. As in modern Greek we find alldiphthongs that end in iota pronounced as simple I, so in Latin there are numerous instances, before andduring the classic period, of the use of E for AE or OE, and it is to be noted that in the latest spelling Egenerally prevails.

Munro says:

In Lucilius's time the rustics said Cecilius pretorfor Caecilius praetor; in two Samothracian inscriptionsolder than B.C. 1OO (the sound of AI by that time verging to an open E), we find muste piei and muste: insimilar inscriptions [Greek: transliterated]*_mystai piei, and mystae: Paeligni is reproduced in Strabo by[Greek:transliterated]_Pelignoi: Cicero, Virgil, Festus, and Servius all alike give caestos for[Greek:transliterated]_kestos: by the first century, perhaps sooner, E was very frequently put for AE in wordslike taeter: we often find teter, erumna, mestus, presto and the like: soon inscriptions and MSS. beganpertinaciously to offer AE for E*: praetum, praeces, quaerella, aegestas and the like, the AE representing ashort and very open E: sometimes it stands for a long E, as often in plaenus, the liquid before and aftermaking perhaps the E more open ([Greek:transliteration]_skaenae is always scaena): and it is from this form

plaenus that in Italian, contrary to the usual law of long Latin E, we have pino with open E. With suchpedigree then, and with the genuine Latin AE always represented in Italian by open E, can we hesitate topronounce the AE with this open E sound?

The argument sometimes used, for pronouncing AE like AI, that in the poets we occasionally find AI in thegenitive singular of the first declension, appears to have little weight in view of the following explanation:

[Mar. Vict. de Orthog. et de Metr. Rat., I. iii. 38.] AE Syllabam quidam more Graecorum per AI scribunt, necillud quidem custodient, quia omnes fere, qui de orthographia aliquid scriptum reliquerunt, praecipiunt,nomina femina casu nominativo A finita, numero plurali in AE exire, ut Aeliae: eadem per A et I scriptanumerum singularem ostendere, ut hujus Aeliai: inducti a poetis, qui pictai vestis scripserunt: et quia Graeciper I potissimum hanc syllabam scribunt propter exilitatem litterae, [Greek:transliteration]_ae autem propternaturalem productionem jungere vocali alteri non possunt: iota vero, quae est brevis eademque longa, aptior

ad hanc structuram visa est: quam potestatem apud nos habet et I, quae est longa et brevis. Vos igitur sinecontroversia ambiguitatis, et pluralem nominativum, et singularem genitivum per AE scribite: nam qui nonpotest dignoscere supra scriptarum vocum numeros et casum, valde est hebes.

Of OE Munro says:

When hateful barbarisms like coelum, coena, moestus, are eliminated, OE occurs very rarely in Latin: coepi,poena, moenia, coetus, proelia, besides archaisms coera, moerus, etc., where OE, coming from OI, passedinto U. If we must have a simple sound, I should take the open E sound which I have given to AE: but Ishould prefer one like the German . Their rarity, however, makes the sound of OE, EU, UI, of lessimportance.

Of AU Munro says:

Here, too, AU has a curious analogy with AE: The Latin AU becomes in Italian open O: ro de: I wouldpronounce thus in Latin: plstrum, Cldius, crus. Perhaps, too, the fact that gloria, vittoria and the commonterminationorio, have in Italian the open O, might show that the corresponding * in Latin was open bycoming between two liquids, or before one: compare plenus above. I should prefer, he says, (to representthe Latin AU,) the Italian AU, which gives more of the U than our owl, cow.


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CONSONANTS.

B has, in general, the same sound as in English

[Mar. Vict. Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] E quibus B et P litterae ... dispari inter se oris officio exprimuntur. Nam primaexploso e mediis labiis sono, sequens compresso ore velut introrsum attracto vocis ictu explicatur.

B before S or T is sharpened to P: thus urbs is pronounced urps; obtinuit, optinuit. Some words, indeed, arewritten either way; as obses, or opses; obsonium, or opsonium; obtingo, or optingo; and Quintilian says it is aquestion whether the change should be indicated in writing or not:

[Quint. I. vii. 7.] Quaeri solet, in scribendo praepositiones, sonum quem junctae efficiunt an quem separatae,observare conveniat: ut cum dico obtinuit, secundam enim B litteram ratio poscit, aures magis audiunt P.

This change, however, is both so slight and so natural that attention need scarcely be called to it. Indeed ifquantity is properly observed, one can hardly go wrong. If, for instance, you attempt, in saying obtinuit, togive its normal sound to B, you can scarcely avoid making a false quantity (the first syllable too long), while

if you observe the quantity (first syllable short) your B will change itself to P.

C appears to have but one sound, the hard, as in sceptic:

[Mar. vict. Keil, v. VI. p. 32.] C etiam et ... G sono proximae, oris molimine nisuque dissentiunt. Nam Creducta introrsum lingua hinc atque hinc molares urgens haerentem intra os sonum vocis excludit: G vimprioris pari linguae habitu palato suggerens lenius reddit.

Not only do we find no hint in the grammarians of any sound akin to the soft C in English, as in sceptre, butthey all speak of C and K and Q as identical, or substantially so, in sound; and Quintilian expressly states thatthe sound of C is always the same. Speaking of K as superfluous, he says:

[Quint, I. vii. io.] Nam K quidem in nullis verbis utendum puto, nisi quae significat, etiam ut sola ponatur.Hoc eo non omisi, quod quidam earn quotiens A sequatur necessariam credunt, cum sit C littera, quae adomnes vocales vim suam perferat.

And Priscian declares:

[Keil. v. II. p. 13.] Quamvis in varia figura et vario nomine sint k et q et c, tamen quia unam vim habent tarnin metre quam in sono, pro una littera accipi debent.

Without the best of evidence we should hardly believe that words written indifferently with ae or e after Cwould be so differently pronounced by those using the diphthong and those using, the simple vowel, that, to

take the instance already given, in the time of Lucilius, the rustic said Sesilius for Kaekilius. Nor does it seemprobable that in different cases the same word would vary so greatly, or that in the numerous compoundswhere after c the a weakens to i the sound of the c was also changed from k to s, as kapio, insipio; kadoinsido.

Quintilian, noting the changes of fashion in the sounding of the h, enumerates, among other instances ofexcessive use of the aspirate, the words choronae (for coronae), chenturiones (for centuriones), praechones(for praecones), as if the three words were alike in their initial sound.

Alluding to inscriptions (first volume), where we have pulcher and pulcer, Gracchis and Grams, Mr. Munrosays: I do not well see how the aspirate could have been attached to the c, if c had not a k sound, or how in


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this case C before e or i could have differed from c before a, o, u.

Professor Munro also cites an inscription (844 of the Corpus Inscr., vol. I.) bearing on the case in anotherway. In this inscription we have the word dekembres. This, says Mr. Munro, is one of nearly two hundredshort, plebeian, often halfbarbarous, very old inscriptions on a collection of ollae. The k before e, or anyletter except a, is solecistic, just as in no. 831 is the c, instead of k, for calendas. From this I would infer that,

as in the latter the writer saw no difference between C and K, so to the writer of the former K was the same asC before E.

Again he says:

And finally, what is to me most convincing of all, I do not well understand how in a people of grammarians,when for seven hundred years, from Ennius to Priscian, the most distinguished writers were also the mostminute philologers, not one, so far as we know, should have hinted at any difference, if such existed.

As to the peculiar effect of C final in certain particles to lengthen the vowel before it, this C is doubtless theremnant of the intensive enclitic CE, and the socalled 'length' is not in the vowel, but in the more forcibleutterance of the C. It is true that Priscian says:

[Keil. v. II. p. 34.] Notandum, quod ante hanc solam mutam finalem inveniuntur longae vocales, ut hc, hc,sc, hc adverbium.

And Probus speaks of C as often prolonging the vowel before it. But Victorinus, more philosophically,attributes the length to the double" sound of the consonant:

[Mar. Vict. I. v. 46.] Consideranda ergo est in his duntaxat pronominibus natura C litterae, quae crassumquodammodo et quasi geminum sonum reddat, hic et hoc.

And he adds that you do not get that more emphatic sound in, for instance, the conjunction nec.

Si autem nec conjunctionem aspiciamus, licet eadem littera finitam, diversum tamen sonabit.

And again:

Ut dixi, in pronominibus C littera sonum efficit crassiorem.

Pompeius, commenting upon certain vices of speech, says that some persons bring out the final C in certainwords too heavily, pronouncing sic luditas sic cludit; while others, on the contrary, touch it so lightly thatwhen the following word begins with C you hear but a single C:

[Keil. v. V. p. 394.] Item litteram C quidam in quibusdam dictionibus non latine ecferunt, sed ita crasse, utnon discernas quid dicant: ut puta siquis dicat sic ludit, ita hoc loquitur ut putes eum in secunda parte orationiscludere dixisse, non ludere: et item si contra dicat illud contrarium putabis. Alii contra ita subtiliter hocecferunt, ut cum duo C habeant, desinentis prioris partis orationis et incipientis alterius, sic loquantur quasiuno C utrumque explicent, ut dicunt multi sic custodit.

D, in general, is pronounced as in English, except that the tongue should touch the teeth rather than the palate.

[Pompei. Comm. ad Donat. Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] D autem et T quibus, ut ita dixerim, vocis vicinitas quaedamest, linguae sublatione ac positione distinguuntur. Nam cum summos atque imos conjunctim dentes supremasui parte pulsaverit D litteram exprimit. Quotiens autem sublimata partem, qua superis dentibus est origo,


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contigerit T sonare vocis explicabit.

But when certain words in common use ending in D were followed by words beginning with a consonant, thesound of the D was sharpened to T; and indeed the word was often, especially by the earlier writers, writtenwith T, as, for instance, set, haut, aput:

[Mar. Vict. I. iii. 50.] D tamen litteram conservat si sequens verbum incipiat a vocali; ut haud aliter muros; ethaud equidem. At cum verbum a consonante incipit, D perdit, ut _haut dudum, et haut multum, et hautplacitura refert, et inducit T.

F is pronounced as in English except that it should be brought out more forcibly, with more breath.

[Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] F litteram imum labium superis imprimentibus dentibus, reflexa ad palati fastigium lingua,leni spiramine proferemus.

Marius Victorinus says that F was used in Latin words as PH in foreign.

Diomedes (of the fourth century) says the same:

[Diom. Keil. v. I. p. 427.] Id hoc scire debemus quod F littera tum scribitur cum Latina dictio scribitur, utfelix. Nam si peregrina fuerit, P et H scribimus, ut Phoebus, Phaethon.

And Priscian makes a similar statement:

[Prise. Keil. v. I. p. 35.] F multis modis muta magis ostenditur, cum pro P et aspiratione, quae similiter mutaest, accipitur.

From the following words of Quintilian we may judge the breathing to have been quite pronounced:

[Quint. XII. x. 29.] Nam et illa quae est sexta nostrarum, paene non humana voce, vel omnino non voce,potius inter discrimina dentium efflanda est, quae etiam cum vocalem proxima accipit quassa quodammodo,utique quotiens aliquam consonantem frangit, ut in hoc ipso frangit, multo fit horridior.

G, no less than C, appears to have had but one sound, the hard; as in the English word get.

[Mar. Vict. Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] C etiam et G, ut supra scriptae, sono proximae, oris molimine nisuquedissentiunt. Nam C reducta introrsum lingua, hinc atque hinc molares urgens, haerentem intra os sonum vocisexcludit: G vim prioris, pari linguae habitu palato suggerens, lenius reddit.

Diomedes speaks of G as a new consonant, whose place had earlier been filled by C:

[Keil. v. I. p. 423.] G nova est consonans, in cujus locum C solebat adponi, sicut hodieque cum Gaiumnotamus Caesarem, scribimus C. C., ideoque etiam post B litteram, id est tertio loco, digesta est, ut apudGraecos [Greek:transliterated] g posita reperitur in eo loco.

Victorinus thus refers to the old custom still in use of writing C and CN, as initials, in certain names, evenwhere the names were pronounced as with G.

[Mar. Vict. I. iii. 98.] C autem et nomen habuisse G et usum praestitisse, quod nunc Caius per C, et Cneiusper CN, quamvis utrimque syllabae sonus G exprimat, scribuntur.


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H has the same sound as in English. The grammarians never regarded it as a consonant,at least in more thanname,but merely as representing the rough breathing of the Greeks.

Victorinus thus speaks of its nature:

[Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] H quoque inter litteras obviam grammatici tradiderunt, eamque adspirationis notam

cunctis vocalibus praefici; ipsi autem consonantes tantum quattuor praeponi, quotiens graecis nominibuslatina forma est, persuaserunt, id est C, P, R, T; ut chori, Phyllis, rhombos, thymos; quae profundo spiritu,anhelis faucibus, exploso ore, fundetur.

By the best authorities H was looked upon as a mere mark of aspiration. Victorinus says that Nigidius Figulusso regarded it:

[Mar. Vict. I. iv. 5.] Idem (N. F.) H non esse litteram, sed notam adspirationis tradidit.

There appears to have been the same difference of opinion and usage among the Romans as with us in thematter of sounding the H.

Quintilian says that the fashion changed with the age:

[Quint. I. v. l9,20,21.] Cujus quidem ratio mutata cum temporibus est saepius. Parcissime ea veteres usi etiamin vocalibus, cum oedus vicos_que dicebant, diu deinde servatum ne consonantibus aspirarent, ut in Graeciset in triumpis; erupit brevi tempore nimius usus, ut choronae, chenturiones, praechones, adhuc quibusdam

inscriptionibus maneant, qua de re Catulli nobile epigramma est. Inde durat ad nos usque vehementer, et

_comprehendere, et mihi, nam mehe quoque pro me apud antiques tragoediarum praecipue scriptores inveteribus libris invenimus.

In the epigram above referred to Catullus thus satirizes the excessive use of the aspirate:

[Catullus lxxxiv.]

Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet Dicere, et hinsidias Arrius insidias: Et tum mirifice sperabat seesse locutum, Cum quantum poterat dixerat hinsidias. Credo sic mater, sic Liber avunculus ejus, Sic maternusavus dixerat, atque avia. Hoc misso in Syriam requierunt omnibus aures; Audibant eadem haec leniter etleviter. Nec sibi post ilia metuebant talia verba, Cum subito adfertur nuntius horribilis, Ionios fluctuspostquam illuc Arrius isset Jam non Ionios esse, sed Hionios.

On the other hand Quintilian seems disposed to smile at the excess of 'culture' which drops its H's, to class thiswith other affected 'niceties' of speech, and to regard the whole matter as of slight importance:

[Quint. I. vi. 21, 22.] Multum enim litteratus, qui sine aspiratione et producta secunda syllaba salutarit (avereest enim), et calefacere dixerit potius quam quod dicimus, et conservavisse ; his adjiciat face et dice et similia.Recta est haec via, quis negat? sed adjacet mollior et magis trita.

Cicero confesses that he himself changed his practice in regard to the aspirate. He had been accustomed tosound it only with vowels, and to follow the fathers, who never used it with a consonant; but at length,yielding to the importunity of his ear, he conceded the right of usage to the people, and 'kept his learning tohimself.'

[Cic. Or. XLVIII. 160.] Quin ego ipse, cum scirem ita majores locutos esse ut nusquam nisi in vocaliaspiratione uterentur, loquebar sic, ut pulcros, cetegus, triumpos, Kartaginem, dicerem; aliquando, idque sero,


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convicio aurium cum extorta mihi veritas, usum loquendi populo concessi, scientiam mihi reservavi.

Gellius speaks of the ancients as having employed the H merely to add a certain force and life to the word, inimitation of the Attic tongue, and enumerates some of these words. Thus, he says, they said lachrymas; thus,sepulchrum, aheneum, vehement, inchoare, helvari, hallucinari, honera, honustum.

[Gellius II. iii.] In his enim verbis omnibus litterae, seu spiritus istius nulla ratio visa est, nisi ut firmitas etvigor vocis, quasi quibusdam nervis additis, intenderetur.

And he tells an interesting anecdote about a manuscript of Vergil:

Sed quoniam aheni quoque exemplo usi sumus, venit nobis in memoriam, fidum optatumque, multi nominisRomae, grammaticum ostendisse mihi librum Aeneidos secundum mirandae vetustatis, emptum in SigillariisXX. aureis, quem ipsius Vergilii fuisse credebat; in quo duo isti versus cum ita scripti forent:

Vestibulum ante ipsum, primoque in limine, Pyrrhus: Exultat telis, et luce coruscus ana.

Additam supra vidimus H litteram, et ahera factum. Sic in illo quoque Vergilii versu in optimis libris scriptuminvenimus:

Aut foliis undam tepidi dispumat aheni.

I consonant has the sound of I in the English word onion. The grammarians all express themselves in nearlythe same terms as to its character:

[Serg. Explan. in Art. Donat. Keil. v. IV. p. 520.] I et U varias habent potestates: nam sunt aliquando vocales,aliquando consonantes, aliquando mediae, aliquando nihil, aliquando digammae, aliquando duplices. Vocalessunt quando aut singulae positae syllabam faciunt aut aliis consonantibus sociantur, ut Iris et unus et Isis eturna. Consonantes autem sunt, cum aliis vocalibus in una syllaba praeponuntur, aut cum ipsae inter se in una

syllaba conjunguntur. Nisi enim et prior sit et in una syllaba secum habeat conjunctam vocalem, non eritconsonans I vel U. Nam Iulhis et Iarbas cum dicis, I consonans non est, licet praecedat, quia in una syllabasecum non habet conjunctam vocalem, sed in altera consequentem.

The grammarians speak of I consonant as different in sound and effect from the vowel I; and, as they do notsay how it differs, we naturally infer the variation to be that which follows in the nature of things from itsposition and office, as in the kindred Romance languages.

Priscian says:

[Keil. v. II. p. 13.] Sic I et U, quamvis unum nomen et unam habeant figuram tam vocales quam consonantes,

tamen, quia diversum sonum et diversam vim habent in metris et in pronuntiatione syllabarum, non sunt ineisdem meo judicio elementis accipiendae, quamvis et Censorino, doctissimo artis grammaticae, idem placuit.

It would seem to be by reason of this twofold nature (vowel and consonant) that I has its 'lengthening' power.Probus explains the matter thus:

[Keil. v. IV. p. 220.] Praeterea vim naturamque I litterae vocalis plenissime debemus cognoscere, quodduarum interdum loco consonantium ponatur. Hanc enim ex suo numero vocales duplicem litteram mittunt, utcetera elementa litterarum singulas duplices mittunt, de quibus suo disputavimus loco. Illa ergo ratione Ilittera duplicem sonum designat, una quamvis figura sit, si undique fuerit cincta vocalibus, ut acerrimus Aiax,et


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Aio te, Eacida, Romanes vincere posse.

Again in the commentaries on Donatus we find:

[Keil. v. IV. p. 421.] Plane sciendum est quod I inter duas posita vocales in una parte orationis pro duabus estconsonantibus, ut Troia.

Priscian tells us that earlier it was, as we know, the custom to write two I's:

[Keil. v. III. p. 467.] Antiqui solebant duas II scribere, et alteram priori subjungere, alteram praeponeresequenti, ut _Troiia, Maiia, Aiiax.

And Quintilian says:

[Quint. I. iv. 11.] Sciat etiam Ciceroni placuisse aiio Maiiam que geminata I scribere.

This doubling of the sound of I, natural, even unavoidable, between vowels, gives us the consonant effect (asvowel, uniting with the preceding, as consonant, introducing the following, vowel).

K has the same sound as in English.

The grammarians generally agree that K is a superfluous, or at least unnecessary, letter, its place being filledby C. Diomedes says:

[Keil. v. I. pp. 423, 424.] Ex his quibusdam supervacuae videntur K et Q, quod C littera harum locum possitimplere.

And again:

K consonans muta supervacua, qua utimur quando A correpta sequitur, ut Kalendae, caput, calumniae.

Its only use is as an initial and sign of certain words, and it is followed by short A only.

Victorinus says:

[I. iii. 23.] K autem dicitur monophonos, quia nulli vocali jungitur nisi soli A brevi: et hoc ita ut ab ea parsorationis incipit, aliter autem non recte scribitur.

Priscian says:

[Keil. v. II. p. 36.] K supervacua est, ut supra diximus: quae quamvis scribetur nullam aliam vim habet quamC.

And Quintilian speaks of it. as a mere sign, but says some think it should be used when A follows, as initial:

[Quint. I. iv. 9.] Et K, quae et ipsa quorundam nominum nota est.

And:

[Quint. I. vii. 10.] Nam K quidem in nullis verbis utendum puto nisi quae significat etiam ut sola ponatur. Hoceo non omisi quod quidam eam quotiens A sequatur necessariam credunt, cum sit C littera, quae ad omnes


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vocales vim suam perferat.

This use of K, as an initial, and in certain words, was regarded somewhat in the light of a literary 'fancy.'Priscian says of it:

[Keil. v. II. p. 12.] Et K quidem penitus supervacua est; nulla enim videtur ratio cur A sequente haec scribi

debeat: Carthago enim et caputsive per C sive per K scribantur nullam faciunt nec in sono nec in potestateejusdem consonantis differentiam.

L is pronounced as in English, only more distinctly and with the tongue more nearly approaching the teeth.The sound is thus given by Victorinus:

[Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] Sequetur L, quae validum nescio quid partem palati qua primordium dentibus superis estlingua trudente, diducto ore personabit.

But it varies according to its position in the force and distinctness with which it is uttered. Pliny and othersrecognize three degrees of force:

Priscian says:

[Keil. v. II. p. 29.] L triplicem, ut Plinius videtur, sonum habet: exilem, quando geminatur secundo locoposita, ut ille, _Metellus ; plenum, quando finit nomina vel syllabas, et quando aliquam habet ante se in eademsyllaba consonantem, ut sol, _silva, flavus, clarus; medium in aliis, ut lectum, _lectus.

Pompeius, in his commentaries on Donatus, makes nearly the same statement, when treating of 'labdacism':

[Keil. v. V. p. 394.] Labdacismum vitium in eo esse dicunt quod eadem littera vel subtilius, a quibusdam, velpinguius, ecfertur. Et re vera alterutrum vitium quibusdam gentibus est. Nam ecce Graeci subtiliter huncsonum ecferunt. Ubi enim dicunt ille mihi dixitsic sonat duae ll primae syllabae quasi per unum l sermo ipse

consistet. Contra alii sic pronuntiant ille meum comitatus iter, et illum ego per flammas eripui ut aliquid illicsoni etiam consonantis ammiscere videantur, quod pinguissimae prolationis est. Romana linguaemendationem habet in hoc quoque distinctione. Nam alicubi pinguius, alicubi debet exilius, proferri:pinguius cum vel b sequitur, ut in albo; vel c, ut in pulchro; vel f, ut in adelfis; vel g, ut in alga; vel m, ut in

pulmone; vel p, ut in scalpro: exilius autem proferenda est ubicumque ab ea verbum incipit; ut in lepore, lana,lupo; vel ubi in eodem verbo et prior syllaba in hac finitur, et sequens ab ea incipit, ut ille et _Allia.

In another place he speaks of the Africans as 'abounding' in this vice, and of their pronouncing Metellus andCatullus; Metelus, Catulus:

[Keil. v. v. p. 287.] In his etiam agnoscimus gentium vitia; labdacismis scatent Afri, raro est ut aliquis dicat l:

per geminum l sic loquuntur Romani, omnes Latini sic loquuntur, _Catullus, Metellus.

Mis pronounced as in English, except before q, where it has a nasal sound, and when final.

[Mar. Vict. Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] Mimpressis invicem labiis mugitum quendam intra oris specum attractisnaribus dabit.

But this 'mooing' sound, in which so many of their words ended, was not altogether pleasing to the Romanear. Quintilian exclaims against it:


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[Quint, XII. x. 31.] Quid quod pleraque nos illa quasi mugiente littera cludimus m, qua nullum Graece verbumcadit.

The offensive sound was therefore gotten rid of, as far as possible, by obscuring the M at the end of a word.Priscian. speaks of three sounds of M,at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of a word:

[Prisc. Keil. v. II. p. 29.] M obscurum in extremitate dictionum sonat, ut templum, apertum in principio, utmagnus; mediocre in mediis, ut umbra.

This 'obscuring' led in verse to the cutting off of the final syllable in M when the following word began with avowel,as Priscian remarks in the same connection:

Finales dictionis subtrahitur M in metro plerumque, si a vocali incipit sequens dictio, ut:

Illum expirantem transfixo pectore flammas.

Yet, he adds, the ancients did not always withdraw the sound:

Vetustissimi tamen non semper eam subtrahebant, Ennius in X Annalium:

Insigneita fere tum milia militum octo Duxit delectos bellum tolerare potentes.

The M was not, however, entirely ignored. Thus Quintilian says:

[Quint, IX. iv. 40.] Atqui eadem illa littera, quotiens ultima est et vocalem verbi sequentis ita contingit ut ineam transire possit, etiamsi scribitur tamen parum exprimitur, ut multum ille et quantum erat; adeo ut paenecujusdam novae litterae sonum reddat. Neque enim eximitur, sed obscuratur, et tantum aliqua inter duasvocales velut nota est, ne ipsae coeant.

It is a significant fact in this connection that M is the only one of the liquids (semivowels) that does not allowa long vowel before it. Priscian, mentioning several peculiarities of this semivowel, thus speaks of this one:

[Priscian. Keil. v. II. p. 23.] Nunquam tamen eadem M ante se natura longam (vocalem) patitur in eademsyllaba esse, ut _illam, artem, puppim, illum, rem, spem, diem, cum aliae omnes semivocales hoc habent, ut

Maecenas, Paean, _sol, pax, par.

That the M was really sounded we may infer from Pompeius (on Donatus) where, treating ofmyotacism, hecalls it the careless pronunciation of M between two vowels (at the end of one word and the beginning ofanother), the running of the words together in such a way that M seems to begin the second, rather than to endthe first:

[Keil. v. V. p. 287.] Ut si dices hominem amicum, oratorem optimum. Non enim videris dicere hominemamicum, sed homine mamicum, quod est incongruum et inconsonans. Similiter oratorem optimum viderisoratore moptimum.

He also warns against the vice of dropping the M altogether. One must neither say homine mamicum, norhomine amicum:

Plerumque enim aut suspensione pronuntiatur aut exclusione.... Nos quid sequi debemus? Quid? persuspensionem tantum modo. Qua ratione? Quia si dixeris per suspensionem homimem amicum, et haec vitiumvitabis, myotacismum, et non cades in aliud vitium, id est in hiatum.


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primae litterae sunt quae in _sapiente atque felice, producte dicitur; in ceteris omnibus breviter: itemquecomposuit, consuevit, concrepit, _confecit. Consule veritatem, reprehendet; refer ad aures, probabunt. Quaere,cur? Ita se dicent juvari. Voluptati autem aurium morigerari debet oratio.

In Donatus we have the same fact stated, with the same reason:

[Keil. v. IV. p. 442.] Quod magis aurium indicio quam artis ratione colligimus.

Thus we find numeral abverbs and others ending either in iens or ies, as centiens or centies, decies or deciens,millies or milliens, quotiens or quoties, totiens or toties. Other words, in like manner, participles and nouns,are written either with or without the N before S, as contunsum or contusum, obtunsus or obtusus, thesaurusor thensaurus (the ens is regularly represented in Greek by [Greek transliteration: aes]); infans or infas, fronsor fros. In late Latin the N was frequently dropped in participle endings. Donatus says that this nasal sound ofN should be strenuously observed:

[Keil. v. IV. p. 442.] Illud vehementissime observare debemus, ut con et in quotiensque post se habent S vel Flitteram, videamus quemadmodum pronuntientur. Plerumque enim non observantes in barbarismosincurrimus.

GN in the terminations gnus, gna, gnum, has, according to Priscian, the power to lengthen the penultimatevowel.

[Prisc. I.] Gnus quoque, vel gna, vel gnum, terminantia, longam habent vocalem penultimam; ut a regno,regnum; a _sto, stagnum; a bene, benignus; a male, malignus; ab _abiete, abiegnus; privignus ; Pelignus.

(Perhaps the liquid sound, as in caon.)

P is pronounced as in English.

[Mar. Vict. Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] E quibus B et P litterae ... dispari inter se oris officio exprimuntur. Nam primaexploso e mediis labiis sono; sequens, compresso ore, velut introrsum attracto vocis ictu, explicatur.

Q has the sound of English Q in the words quire, quick. Priscian says:

[Keil. v. II. p. 12.] K enim et Q, quamvis figura et nomine videantur aliquam habere differentiam, cum Ctamen eandem, tam in sono vocum, quam in metro, potestatem continent.

And again:

[id. ib. p. 36.] De Q quoque sufficienter supra tractatum est, quae nisi eandem vim haberet quam C.

Marius Victorinus says:

[Keil. v. VI. p. 5.] Item superfluas quasdam videntur retinere, X et K et Q... Pro K et Q, C littera facillimehaberetur; X autem per C et S.

And again:

[Id. ib. p. 32.] K et Q supervacue numero litterarum inseri doctorum plerique contendunt, scilicet quod Clittera harum officium possit implere.


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The grammarians tell us that K and Q are always found at the beginning of a syllable:

[Prisc. Keil. v. III. p. 111.] Q et K semper initio syllabarum ponuntur.

They say also that the use of Q was more free among the earlier Romans, who placed it as initial wherever Ufollowed, as they placed K wherever A* followed,but that in the later, established, usage, its presence

was conditioned upon a vowel after the U in the same syllable:

[Donat. Keil. v. IV. p. 442.] Namque illi Q praeponebant quotiens U sequebatur, ut quum; nos vero nonpossumus Q praeponere nisi ut U sequatur et post ipsam alia vocalis, ut quoniam.

Diomedes says:

[Keil. v. I. p. 425.] Q consonans muta, ex C et U litteris composita, supervacua, qua utimur quando U et alteravocalis in una syllaba junguntur, ut Quirinus.

R is trilled, as in Italian or French:

[Mar. Vict. Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] Sequetur R, quae, vibratione vocis in palato linguae fastigio, fragorem tremulisictibus reddit.

(This proper trilling of the R is most important.)

S seems to have had, almost, if not quite, invariably the sharp sound of the English S in sing, hiss.

In Greek words written also with Z, as Smyrna (also written Zmyrna), it probably had the Z sound, andpossibly in a few Latin words, as rosa, miser, but this is not certain. Marius Victorinus thus sets forth thedifference between S and X (CS):

[Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] Dehinc duae supremae, S et X, jure junguntur. Nam vicino inter se sonore attracto sibilantrictu, ita tamen si prioris ictus pone dentes excitatus ad medium lenis agitetur, sequentis autem crasso spirituhispidum sonet, quia per conjunctionem C et S, quarum et locum implet et vim exprimit, ut sensu auriumducemur, efficitur.

Donatus, according to Pompeius, complains of the Greeks as sounding the S too feebly:

[Keil. v. V. p. 394.] Item S litteram Graeci exiliter ecferunt adeo ut cum dicunt jussitper unum S dicereexistimas.

This would indicate that the Romans pronounced the sibilant distinctly,yet not too emphatically, for

Quintilian says, 'the master of his art (of speaking) will not fondly prolong or dally with his S':

[Quint. I. xi. 6.] Ne illas quidem circa S litteram delicias hic magister feret.

T is pronounced like the English T pure, except that the tongue should approach the teeth more nearly.

[Pompei. Comm. ad Donat. Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] D autem et T, quibus, ut ita dixerim, vocis vicinitas quaedamest, linguae sublatione ac positione distinguuntur. Nam cum summos atque imos conjunctim dentes supremasua parte pulsaverit D litteram exprimit. Quotiens autem sublimata partem qua superis dentibus est origocontigerit, T sonore vocis explicabit.


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From the same writer we learn that some pronounced the T too heavily, giving it a 'thick sound':

[Keil. v. V. p. 394.] Ecce in littera T aliqui ita pingue nescio quid sonant, ut cum dicunt etiam nihil de mediasyllaba infringant.

By which we understand that the T was wrongly uttered with a kind of effort, such as prevented its gliding on

to the I.

TH nearly as in then, not as in thin.

U (consonant) or V.

That the letter U performed the office of both vowel and consonant all the grammarians agree, and state thefact in nearly the same terms. Priscian says that they (I and U) seem quite other letters when used asconsonants, and that it makes a great difference in which of these ways they are used:

[Keil. v. II. p. 13.] Videntur tamen I et U cum in consonantes transeunt quantum ad potestatem, quodmaximum est in elementis, aliae litterae esse praeter supra dictis; multum enim interest utrum vocales sint anconsonantes.

The grammarians also state that this consonant U was represented by the Greek digamma, which the Romanscalled vau also.


[I. iii. 44.] Nam littera U vocalis est, sicut A, E, I, O, sed eadem vicem obtinet consonantis: cujus potestatisnotam Graeci habent [Greek letter: digamma], nostri vau vocant, et alii _digamma; ea per se scripta non facitsyllabam, anteposita autem vocali facit, ut [Greek in which w = digamma:* wamaxa, wekaebolos] et [Greek,w = digamma:* welenae]. Nos vero, qui non habemus hujus vocis nomen aut notam, in ejus locum quotiens

una vocalis pluresve junctae unam syllabam faciunt, substituimus U litteram.

Now it is contended by some that this digamma, or vau, was merely taken as a symbol, somewhat arbitrarilyperhaps, and that it did not indicate a particular sound, but might stand for anything which the Romans choseto represent by it; and that therefore it gives us no certain indication of what the Latin U consonant was. Butwe are expressly told that it had the force and sound of the Greek digamma.

In Marius Victorinus we find:

[Keil. v. VI. p. 23.] F autem apud Aeolis dumtaxat idem valere quod apud nos vau cum pro consonantescribitur, vocarique [Greek transliteration: bau] et digamma.

Priscian explains more fully:

[Keil. v. II. p. 15.] U vero loco consonantis posita eandem prorsus in omnibus vim habuit apud Latinos quamapud Aeolis _digamma. Unde a plerisque ei nomen hoc datur quod apud Aeolis habuit olim [Greek letter:digamma] digamma, id est vau, ab ipsius voce profectum teste Varrone et Didymo, qui id ei nomen esseostendunt. Pro quo Caesar hanc [Greek letter: digamma rotated 90 degress] figuram scribi voluit, quodquamvis illi recte visum est tamen consuetude antiqua superavit. Adeo autem hoc verum est quod pro Aeolicodigamma [Greek letter: digamma] U ponitur.

What then was the sound of this Aeolic digamma or [Greek transliteration: bau]? Priscian says:


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[Keil. v. II. p. 11.] [Greek letter: digamma] Aeolicum digamma, quod apud antiquissimos Latinorum eandemvim quam apud Aeolis habuit. Eum autem prope sonum quem nunc habet significabat P cum aspiratione, sicutetiam apud veteres Graecos pro [Greek letter: ph] [Greek letter: p] et [Greek letter: eta]; unde nunc quoque inGraecis nominibus antiquam scripturam servamus, pro [Greek: ph] P et H ponentes, ut Orpheus, PhaethonPostea vero in Latinis verbis placuit pro P et H, F scribi, ut fama, _filiu, facio, loco autem digamma U proconsonante, quod cognatione soni videbatur affinis esse digamma ea littera.

The Latin U consonant is here distinctly stated to be akin to the Greek digamma ([Greek letter: digamma]) insound.

Now the office of the Greek digamma was apparently manifold. It stood for [Greek letter: s, b] (Eng. V),[Greek letter: g, ch, ph], and for the breathings 'rough' and 'smooth.' Sometimes the sound of the digamma isgiven, we are told, where the character itself is not written. It is said that in the neighborhood of Olympia it istoday pronounced, though not written, between two vowels as [Greek letter: b] (Eng. V). Which of thesevarious sounds should be given the digamma appears to have been determined by the law of euphony. It wassometimes written but not sounded (like our H).

The question then is, which of these various sounds of the digamma is represented by the Latin U consonant,or does it represent all, or none, of these.

Speaking of F, Priscian says:

[Keil. v. II. p. 35.] Antiqui Romanorum Aeolis sequentes loco aspirationis earn (F) ponebant, effugientes ipsiquoque aspirationem, et maxime cum consonante recusabant eam proferre in Latino sermone. Habebat autemhaec F littera hunc sonum quem nunc habet U loco consonantis posita, unde antiqui AF pro AB scriberesolebant; sed quia non potest vau, id est digamma, in fine syllabae inveniri, ideo mutata in B. Sifilum quoquepro sibilum teste Nonio Marcello de Doctorum Indagine dicebant.

And again:

[Prisc. Keil. v. II. p. 15.] In B etiam solet apud Aeolis transire [Greek letter: digamma] digamma quotiens ab[Greek: r] incipit dictio quae solet aspirari, ut [Greek transliteration: raetor], [Greek transliteration: braetor]dicunt, quod digamma nisi vocali praeponi et in principio syllabae non potest. Ideo autem locum transmutavit,quia B vel digamma post [Greek letter: r] in eadem syllaba pronuntiari non potest. Apud nos quoque estinvenire quod pro U consonante B ponitur, ut caelebs, caelestium vitam ducens, per B scribitur, quod Uconsonans ante consonantem poni non potest. Sed etiam Bruges et Belena antiquissimi dicebant, testeQuintiliano, qui hoc ostendit in primo institutionum oratoriarum: nec mirum, cum B quoque in U euphoniaecausa converti invenimus; ut aufero.

[Quint, I. v. 69.] Frequenter autem praepositiones quoque copulatio ista corrumpit; inde abstulit, aufugit,

amisit, cum praepositio sit ab sola.

It is significant here that Cicero speaks of the change from DU to B as a contraction. He says:

[Cic. Or. LXV.] Quid vero licentius quam quod hominum etiam nomina contrahebant, quo essent aptiora?Nam ut duellum, bellum; et duis, bis; sic Duellium eum qui Poenos classe devicit Bellium nominaverunt, cumsuperiores appellati essent semper Duellii.

One cannot but feel in reading the numerous passages in the grammarians that treat of the sound of Uconsonant, that if its sound had been no other than the natural sound of U with consonantal force, they neverwould have spent so much time and labor in explaining and elucidating it. Why did they not turn it off with


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the simple explanation which they give to the consonantal Ithat of double I? What more natural than tospeak of consonant U as double U (as we English do W). But on the contrary they expressly declare it tohave a sound distinct and peculiar. Quintilian says that even if the form of the Aeolic digamma is rejected bythe Romans, yet its force pursues them:

[Quint. XII. x. 29.] Aeolicae quoque litterae qua servum cervum_que dicimus, etiamsi forma a nobis repudiata

est, vis tamen nos ipsa persequitur.

He gives it as his opinion that it would have been well to have adopted the vau, and says that neither by theold way of writing (by UO), nor by the modern way (by servus et cervus) ea ratione quam reddidi: neutro sanemodo vox quam sentimus efficitur. Nec inutiliter Claudius Aeolicam illam ad hos usus litteram adjecerat.

And again still more distinctly:

[Id. ib. iv. 7, 8.] At grammatici saltern omnes in hanc descendent rerum tenuitatem, desintne aliquae nobisnecessariae literarum, non cum Graeca scribimus (tum enim ab iisdem duas mutuamur) sed propriae, inLatinis, ut in his seruus et _uulgus Aeolicum digammon desideratur.

This need of a new symbol, recognized by authorities like Cicero and Quintilian, is not an insignificant pointin the argument.

Marius Victorinus says that Cicero adds U (consonant) to the other five consonants that are understood toassimilate certain other consonants coming before them:

[Mar. Vict. I. iv. 64.] Sed propriae sunt cognatae (consonantes) quae simili figuratione oris dicuntur, ut est B,F, R, M, P, quibus Cicero adjicit U, non eam quae accipitur pro vocali, sed eam quae consonantis obtinetvicem, et interposita vocali fit ut aliac quoque consonantes.

He proceeds to illustrate with the proposition OB:

[Id. ib. 67.] OB autem mutatur in cognatas easdem, ut offert, officit; et ommovet, ommutescit; et oppandit,opperitur; ovvertit, ovvius.

Let any one, keeping in mind the distinctness with which the Romans uttered doubled consonants, attempt topronounce ovvius on the theory of consonant U like English (W) (!).

By the advocates of the W sound of the V much stress is laid upon the fact that the poets occasionally changethe consonant into the vowel U, and vice versa; as Horace, Epode VIII. 2:

Nivesque deducunt Jovem, nunc mare nunc siluae;

Or Lucretius, in II. 232:

Propterea quia corpus aquae naturaque tenvis.

Such single instances suggest, indeed, a common origin in the U and V, and a poet's license, archaisticperhaps; but no more determine the ordinary value of the letter than, say, in the English poets the rhyming ofwind with mind, or the making a distinct syllable of the edin participle endings.

Another argument used in support of the W sound is taken from the words of Nigidius Figulus.


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He was contending, we are told, that words and names come into being not by chance, or arbitrarily, but bynature; and he takes, among other examples, the words vos and nos, tu and ego, tibi and mihi:

[Aul. Gell. X. iv. 4.] Vos, inquit, cum dicimus motu quodam oris conveniente cum ipsius verbi demonstrationeutimur, et labias sensim primores emovemus, ac spiritum atque animam porro versum et ad eos quibuscumsermonicamur intendimus. At contra cum dicimus nos neque profuso intentoque flatu vocis, neque projectis

labiis pronunciamus; sed et spiritum et labias quasi intra nosmetipsos coercemus. Hoc idem fit et in eo quoddicimus _tu et ego; et tibi et mihi. Nam sicuti cum adnuimus et abnuimus, motus quidem ille vel capitis veloculorum a natura rei quam significabat non abhorret; ita in his vocibus, quasi gestus quidam oris et spiritusnaturalis est.

But a little careful examination will show that this passage favors the other side rather.

The first part of the description: labias sensim primores emovemus, will apply to either sound, vos or wos,although better, as will appear upon consulting the mirror, to vos than to wos; but the second: ac spiritumatque animam porro versum et ad eos quibuscum sermonicamur intendimus, will certainly apply far better tovos than to wos. In wos we get the projectis labiis to some extent, although not so marked as in vos; but wedo not get anything like the same profuso intentoque flatu vocis as in vos.

The same may be said of the argument drawn from the anecdote related by Cicero in his de Divinatione:

[Cic. de Div. XL. 84.] Cum M. Crassus exercitum Brundisii imponeret, quidam in portu caricas Caunoadvectas vendens Cauneas! clamitabat. Dicamus, si placet, monitum ab eo Crassum caveret ne iret, nonfuisse periturum si omini paruisset.

Now when we remember that Caunos, whence these particular figs came, was a Greek town; that thefigseller was very likely a Greek himself (Brundisium being a Greek port so to speak), but at any rateprobably pronounced the name as it was doubtless always heard; and that U in such a connection is at presentpronounced like our F or V, and we know of no time when it was pronounced like our U, it is difficult to

avoid the conclusion that the figseller was crying Cafneas!a sound far more suggestive ofCaveneeas! than Cauneas! ofCawe ne eas!

But beyond the testimony, direct and indirect, of grammarians and classic writers, an argument against the Wsound appears in the fact that this sound is not found in Greek (from which the vau is borrowed), nor in Italianor kindred Romance languages.

The initial U in Italian represents not Latin U consonant, but some other letter, as H, in uomo (for homo). Onthe other hand we find the V sound, as vedova (from vidua),notice the two V sounds,or the U sometimeschanged to B, as serbare from servare; bibita and bevanda, both from bibo.

In French we find the Latin U consonant passing into F, as ovum into oeuf; novem into neuf.

It seems not improbable that in Cicero's time and later the consonant U represented some variation of sound,that its value varied in the direction of B or F, and possibly, in some Greek words especially, it was morevocalized, as in vae! (Greek [Greek transliteration: ouai]). Yet here it is worthy of note that the correspondingwords in Italian are not written with U but with gu, as guai!

In considering the sound of Latin U consonant we must always keep in mind that the question is one oftime,not, was U ever pronounced as English W; but, was it so pronounced in the time of Cicero and Virgil.Professor Ellis well says: Any one who wishes to arrive at a conclusion respecting the Latin consonantal Umust learn to pronounce and distinguish readily the four series of sounds: U A U E U I U O, WA WE WI WO


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WU, V'A V'E V'I V'O V'U, VA VE VI VO VU.

Now the question is: At what point along this line do we find the U consonant of the golden age? Roby,though not agreeing with Ellis in rejecting the English W sound, as the representative of that period, declareshimself quite content to think that a labial V was provincially contemporary and in the end generallysuperseded it.

But 'provincialisms' do not seem sufficient to account for the use of *[Greek letter: b]} for U consonant ininscriptions and in writers of the first century. For instance, Nerva and Severus in contemporary inscriptionsare written both with *[Greek: ou] and with [Greek letter: b]: [Greek transliteration: Neroua, Nerba;Seouaeros, Sebaeros]. And in Plutarch we find numerous instances of [Greek letter: b] taking the place of[Greek transliteration: ou].

It is true that the instances in which we find [Greek letter: b] taking the place of [Greek trasnliteration: ou] inthe first century, and earlier, are decidedly in the minority, but when we recollect that [Greek trasnliteration:ou] was the original and natural representative of the Latin U, the fact that a change was made at all is of greatweight, and one instance of [Greek letter: b] for U would outweigh a dozen instances of the old form, OU.That the letter should be changed in the Greek, even when it had not been in the Latin, seems to make itcertain that the 'Greek ear,' at least, had detected a real variation of sound from the original U, and one thatapproached, at least, their [Greek letter: b] (Eng. V).

Nor, in this connection, should we fail to notice the words in Latin where U consonant is represented by B,such as bubile from bovile, defervi and deferbui from deferveo.

In concluding the argument for the labial V sound of consonantal U, it may be proper to suggest a fact whichshould have no weight against a conclusive argument on the other side, but which might, perhaps, be allowedto turn the scale nicely balanced. The W sound is not only unfamiliar but nearly, if not quite, impossible, tothe lips of any European people except the English, and would therefore of necessity have to be left out of anyuniversally adopted scheme of Latin pronunciation. Professor Ellis pertinently says: As a matter of practical

convenience English speakers should abstain from W in Latin, because no Continental nation can adopt asound they cannot pronounce.

X has the same sound as in English.


[Keil. v. VI. p. 32.] Dehinc duae supremae S et X jure jungentur, nam vicino inter se sonore attracto sibilantrictu, ita tamen si prioris ictus pone dentes excitatus ad medium lenis agitetur; sequentis autem crasso spirituhispidum sonet qui per conjunctionem C et S, quarum et locum implet et vim exprimit, ut sensu auriumducamur efficitur.

Again:

[Id. ib. p. 5.] X autem per C et S possemus scribere.

And:

Posteaquam a Graecis [Greek: x], et a nobis x, recepta est, abiit et illorum et nostra perplexa ratio, et in primisobservatio Nigidii, qui in libris suis x littera non est usus, antiquitatem sequens.


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X suffers a long vowel before it, being composed of the c (the only mute that allows a long vowel before it)and the S.

Z probably had a sound akin to ds in English. After giving the sound of X as cs, Marius Victorinus goes on tospeak of Z thus:

[Keil. v. VI. p. 5.] Sic et z, si modo latino sermoni necessaria esset, per d et s litteras faceremus.

QUANTITY.

A syllable in Latin may consist of from one to six letters, as a, ab, ars, Mars, stans, stirps.

In dividing into syllables, a consonant between two vowels belongs to the vowel following it. When there aretwo consonants, the first goes with the vowel before, the second with the vowel after, unless the consonantsform such a combination as may stand at the beginning of a word (Latin or Greek), that is, as maybe utteredwith a single impulse, as one letter; in which case they go, as one, with the vowel following. An apparentexception is made in the case of compound words. These are divided into their component parts when these

parts remain intact.

On these points Priscian says:

Si antecedens syllaba terminal in consonantem necesse est et sequentem a consonante incipere; ut artus, ille,arduus; nisi fit compositum: ut abeo, adeo, pereo. Nam in simplicibus dictionibus necesse est s et c ejusdemesse syllabae, ut pascua, luscus. M quoque, vel p, vel t, in simplicibus dictionibus, si antecedats, ejusdem estsyllabae, ut cosmos, perspirare, testis.

In semivocalibus similiter sunt praepositivae aliis semivocalibus in eadem syllaba; ut m sequente n, utMnesteus, amnis.

Each letter has its 'time,' or 'times.' Thus a short vowel has the time of one beat (mora); a long vowel, of twobeats; a single consonant, of a half beat; a double consonant, of one beat. Theoretically, therefore, a syllablemay have as many as three, or even four, tempora; but practically only two are recognized. All over two aredisregarded and each syllable is simply counted 'short' (one beat) or 'long' (two beats).

Priscian says:

[Keil. v. II. p. 52.] In longis natura vel positione duo sunt tempora, ut do, ars; duo semis, quando postvocalem natura longam una sequitur consonans, ut sol; tria, quando post vocalem natura longam duaeconsonantes sequuntur, vel una duplex, ut mons, rex. Tamen in metro necesse est unamquamque syllabam velunius vel duorum accipi temporum.

ACCENT.

The grammarians tell us that every syllable has three dimensions, length, breadth and height, or tenor,spiritus, tempus :

[Keil. Supp. p. XVIII.] Habet etiam unaquaeque syllaba altitudinem, latitudinem et longitudinem; altitudinemin tenore; crassitudinem vel latitudinem, in spiritu; longitudinem in tempore.

Diomedes says:


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[Keil. v. I. p. 430.] Accentus est dictus ab accinendo, quod sit quasi quidam cujusque syllabae cantus.

And Cicero:

[Cic. Or. XVIII.] Ipsa enim natura, quasi modularetur hominem orationem, in omni verbo posuit acutamvocem, nec una plus, nec a postrema syllaba citra tertiam.

The grammarians recognize three accents; but practically we need take account of but two, inasmuch as thethird is merely negative. The syllable having the grave accent is, as we should say, unaccented.

[Diom. Keil. v. I. p. 430.] Sunt vero tres, acutus, gravis, et qui ex duobus constat circumflexus. Ex his, acutusin correptis semper, interdum productis syllabis versatur; inflexus (or 'circumflexus'), in his quae producuntur;gravis autem per se nunquam consistere in ullo verbo potest, sed in his in quibus inflexus est, aut acutusceteras syllabas obtinet.

The same writer thus gives the place of each accent:

[Keil. v. I. p. 431.] (Acutus) apud Latinos duo tantum loca tenent, paenultimum et antepaenultimum;circumflexus autem, quotlibet syllabarum sit dictio, non tenebit nisi paenultimum locum. Omnis igitur parsorationis hanc rationem pronuntiationis detinet. Omnis vox monosyllaba aliquid significans, si brevis est,acuetur, ut ab, mel, fel; et, si positione longa fuerit, acutum similiter tenorem habebit, ut ars, pars, pix, nix,

fax. Sin autem longa natura fuerit, flectetur, ut lux, spes, flos, sol, mons, fons, lis.

Omnis vox dissyllaba priorem syllabam aut acuit aut flectit. Acuit, vel cum brevis est utraque, ut deus, citus,datur, arat; vel cum positione longa est utraque, ut sollers; vel alterutra positione longa dum ne natura longa

sit, prior, ut pontus; posterior, ut cohors. Si vero prior syllaba natura longa et sequens brevis fuerit, flectitur

prior, ut luna, Roma.

In trisyllabis autem et tetrasyllabis et deinceps, secunda ab ultima semper observanda est. Haec, si natura

longa fuerit, inflectitur, ut Romanus, Cethegus, marinus, Crispinus, amicus, Sabinus, Quirinus, lectica. Sivero eadem paenultima positione longa fuerit, acuetur, ut Metellus, Catullus, Marcellus; ita tamen si positionelonga non ex muta et liquida fuerit. Nam mutabit accentum, ut latebrae, tenebrae. Et si novissima naturalonga itemque paenultima, sive natura sive positione longa fuerit, paenultima tantum acuetur, non inflectetur;sic, natura, ut Fidenae,

Athenae, Thebae, Cymae; positione, ut tabellae, _fenestrae. Sin autem media et novissima breves fuerint,prima servabit acutum tenorem, ut Sergius, Mallius, ascia, _fuscina, Julius, Claudius. Si omnes tres syllabaelongae fuerint, media acuetur, ut Romani, legati, praetores, _praedones.

Priscian thus defines the accents:

[Keil. v. III. p. 519.] Acutus namque accentus ideo inventus est quod acuat sive elevet syllabam; gravis veroeo quod deprimat aut deponat; circumflexus ideo quod deprimat et acuat.

Then after giving the place of the accent he notes some disturbing influences, which cause exceptions to thegeneral rule:

[Keil. v. III. pp. 519521.] Tres quidem res accentuum regulas conturbant; distinguendi ratio; pronuntiandiambiguitas; atque necessitas....


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Ratio namque distinguendi legem accentuum saepe conturbat. Siquis pronuntians dicat ponet ergo, quodapud Latinos in ultima syllaba nisi discretionis causa accentus poni non potest: ex hoc est quod diximus ponet erg. Ideo pondicimus ne putetur verbum esse imperativi modi, hoc est pone; erg ideo dicimus neputetur conjunctio rationalis, quod est rgo.

Ambiguitas vero pronuntiandi legem accentuum saepe conturbat. Siquis dicat interealoci, qui nescit, alteram

partem dicat interea, alteram loci, quod non separatim sed sub uno accentu pronuntiandum est, neambiguitatem in sermone faciat.

Necessitas pronuntiationis regulam corrumpit, ut puta siquis dicat in primis doctus, addat que conjunctionem,dicatque doctusque, ecce in pronuntiatione accentum mutavit, cum non in secunda syllaba, sed in prima,accentum habere debuit.

He also states the law that determines the kind of accent to be used:

[Id. ib. p. 521.] Syllaba quae correptam vocalem habet acuto accentu pronuntiatur, ut px, fx, px, nx, dx,_nx, quae etiam tali accentu pronuntianda est, quamvis sit longa positione, quia naturaliter brevis est. Quaevero naturaliter producta est circumflexo accentu exprimenda est ut, _rs, ds, sps. Dissyllabae vero quaepriorem productam habent et posteriorem correptam, priorem syllabam circumflectunt, ut mta, Crta. Illaevero quae sunt ambae longae vel prior brevis et ulterior longa acuto accento pronuntiandae sunt, ut npos,lges, rges. Hae vero quae sunt ambae breves similiter acuto accentu proferuntur, ut bonus, melos. Sednotandum quod si prior sit longa positione non circumflexo, sed acuto, accentu pronuntianda est, ut arma,arcus, quae, quamvis sit longa positione, tamen exprimenda est tali accentu quia non est naturalis.

Trisyllabae namque et tetrasyllabae sive deinceps, si paenultimam correptam habuerint, antepaenultimamacuto accentu proferunt, ut Tllius, Hostlius. Nam paenultima, si positione longa fuerit, acuetur,antepaenultima vero gravabitur, ut Catllus, Metllus. Si vero ex muta et liquida longa in versu esse constat,in oratione quoque accentum mutat, ut latbrae, _tenbrae. Syllaba vero ultima, si brevis sit et paenultimamnaturaliter longam habuerit ipsam paenultimam circumflectit, ut _Cethgus, persus. Ultima quoque, si

naturaliter longa fuerit, paenultimam acuet, ut Athnae, Mycnae. Ad hanc autem rem arsis et thesisnecessariae. Nam in unaquaque parte oratione arsis et thesis sunt, non in ordine syllabarum, sed inpronuntiatione: velut in hac parte natura, ut quando dico _natu elevatur vox, et est arsis intus; quando verosequitur _ra vox deponitur, et est thesis deforis. Quantum, autem suspenditur vox per arsin tantum deprimiturper thesin. Sed ipsa vox quae per dictiones formatur donee accentus perficiatur in arsin deputatur, quae autempost accentum sequitur in thesin.

In the matter of exceptions to the rule that accent does not fall on the ultimate, we find a somewhat widedivergence of opinion among the grammarians. Some of them give numerous exceptions, particularly in thedistinguishing of parts of speech, as, for instance, between the same word used as adverb or preposition, asnte and ant; or between the same form as occurring in nouns and verbs, as rges and regs; and in final

syllables contracted or curtailed, as finit(for finivit).

But since on this point the grammarians do not agree among themselves, either as to number or class ofexceptions, or even as to the manner of making them, we may treat this matter as of no great importance (as inEnglish, we please ourselves in saying prfector perfct). And here it may be said that due attention to thequantity will of itself often regulate the accent in doubtful cases; as when we say doce, if we duly shorten theo and lengthen the e the effect will be correct, whether the ear of the grammarian detect accent on the finalsyllable, or not. For as Quintilian well says:

Nam ut color oculorum indicio, sapor palati, odor narium dinoscitur, ita sonus aurium arbitrio subjectus est.


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PITCH.

But besides the length of the syllable, and the place and quality of the accent, another matter claims attention.

In English all that is required is to know the place of the accent, which is simply distinguished by greaterstress of voice. This peculiarity of our language makes it more difficult for us than for other peoples to get the

Latin accent, which is one of pitch.

In Latin the acute accent means that on the syllable thus accented you raise the pitch; the grave indicatesmerely the lower tone; the circumflex, that the voice is first raised, then depressed, on the same syllable. Toquote again the passage from Priscian:

[Keil. v. in. p. 519.] Acutus namque accentus ideo inventus est quod acuat sive elevet syllabam; gravis vero eoquod deprimat aut deponet; circumflexus ideo quod deprimat et acuat.

In conclusion of this part of the work the following anecdotes from Aulus Gellius are given, as serving toshow that to the rules of classic Roman pronunciation there were exceptions, apparently more or less arbitrary,

someperhaps manyof which we may not now hope to discover; and as serving still more usefully toshow, by the stress laid upon points of comparative insignificance, that exceptions were rare, such as evenscholars could afford to disagree upon, and not such as to affect the general tenor of the language. So that weare encouraged to believe that, as the English language may be well and even elegantly spoken by thosewhose speech still includes scores, if not hundreds, of variations in pronunciation, in sounds of letters or inaccent, so we may hope to pronounce the Latin with some good degree of satisfaction, whether, for instance,we say quisco or qui'esco, ctito or actito:

[Aul. Cell. VI. xv.] Amicus noster, homo multi studii atque in bonarum disciplinarum opere frequens, verbumquiescitusitate e littera correpta dixit. Alter item amicus homo in doctrinis, quasi in praestigiis, mirificus,communiumque vocum respuens nimis et fastidiens, barbare eum dixisse opinatus est; quoniam produceredebuisset, non corripere. Nam quiescitita oportere dici praedicavit, ut calescit, nitescit, stupescit, atque aliahujuscemodi multa. Id etiam addebat, quod quies e producto, non brevi, diceretur. Noster autem, qua estomnium rerum verecunda mediocritate, ne si Aelii quidem Cincii et Santrae dicendum ita censuissentobsecuturum sese fuisse ait, contra perpetuam Latinae linguae consuetudinem. Neque se tam insignitelocuturum, absona aut inaudita ut diceret. Litteras autem super hac re fecit, item inter haec exercitia quaedamludicra; et quiesco non esse his simile quae supra posui, nee a _quiete dictum, sed ab eo quietem; Graecaequevocis [Greek: eschon kai eskon], lonice a verbo [Greek: escho ischo] et modum et originem verbum illudhabere demonstravit. Rationibusque haud sane frigidis docuit quiesco e littera longa dici non convenire.

[Aul. Gell. IX. vi.] Ab eo, quod est ago et egi, verba sunt quae appellant grammatici frequentativa, actito etactitavi. Haec quosdam non sane indoctos viros audio ita pronuntiare ut primam in his litteram corripiant;rationemque dicant, quoniam in verbo principali, quod est ago, prima littera breviter pronuntiatur. Cur igitur

ab eo quod est edo et ungo, in quibus verbis prima littera breviter dicitur, esito et unctito, quae sunt eorumfrequentativa prima littera longa promimus? et contra, dictito, ab eo verbo quod est dico, correpte dicimus?Num ergo potius _actito et actitavi producenda sunt? quoniam frequentativa ferme omnia eodem modo inprima syllaba dicuntur, quo participia praeteriti temporis ex iis verbis unde ea profecta sunt in eadem syllabapronuntiantur; sicut lego, lectus, lectito facit; ungo, unctus, unctito; scribo, scriptus, scriptito; moneo, monitus,monito; pendeo, pensus, pensito; edo, esus, esito; dico, autem, dictus, _dictito facit; gero, gestus, gestito; veho,vectus, vectito; rapio, raptus, raptito; capio, _captus, captito; facio, factus, factito. Sic igitur actito producte inprima syllaba pronuntiandum, quoniam ex eo fit quod est ago et actus.


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PART II. HOW TO USE IT.

The directions now to be given may be fittingly introduced by a few paragraphs from Professor Munro'spamphlet on the pronunciation of Latin, already more than once quoted from. He saysand part of this hasbeen cited before:

We know exactly how Cicero, or Quintilian did or could spell; we know the syllable on which they placedthe accent of almost every word; and in almost every case we already follow them in this. I have theconviction that in their best days philological people took vast pains to make the writing exactly reproduce thesounding; and that if Quintilian or Tacitus spelt a word differently from Cicero or Livy, he also spoke it so fardifferently. With the same amount of evidence, direct and indirect, we have for Latin, it would not, I think, beworth anybody's while to try to recover the pronunciation of French or English; it might, I think, be worth hiswhile to try to recover that of German or Italian, in which sound and spelling accord more nearly, and accentobeys more determinable laws.

I am convinced, he says in another place, that the mainstay of an efficient reform is the adoptionessentially of the Italian vowel system: it combines beauty, firmness and precision in a degree not equalled by

any other system of which I have any knowledge. The little ragged boys in the streets of Rome and Florenceenunciate their vowels in a style of which princes might be proud.

And again:

I do not propose that every one should learn Italian in order to learn Latin. What I would suggest is, thatthose who know Italian should make use of their knowledge and should in many points take Italian sounds forthe model to be followed; that those who do not know it should try to learn from others the sounds required,or such an approximation to them as may be possible in each case.

We may then sum up the results at which we have arrived in the following directions:

First of all pay particular attention to the vowel sounds, to make them full and distinct, taking the Italianmodel, if you know Italian, and always observing strictly the quantity.

Pronounce

[long a] as in Italian fato or as final a in aha!

a as in Italian fatto; or as initial a in aha! or as in fast (not as in fat).

[long e] as second e in Italian fedele; or as in fte (not fate); or as in vein.

e as in Italian fetta; or as in very.

[long i] as first i in Italian timide; or as in caprice,

i as second i in Italian timide; or as in capricious.

i or u, where the spelling varies between the two (e.g. maximus, maxumus), as in German Mller.

[long o] as first o in Italian orlo; or as in more.

o as first o in Italian rotto; or as in wholly (not as in holly).


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[long u] as in Italian rumore; or as in rural.

u as in Italian ruppe; or as in puss (not as in fuss).

Let i in vi before d, t, m, r or x, in the first syllable of a word, be pronounced quite obscurely, somewhat asfirst i in virgin.

In the matter of diphthongs, be sure to take always the correct spelling, to begin with, and thus avoid whatMunro justly terms hateful barbarisms like coelum, coena, moestus. Much time is wasted by students andbad habits are acquired in not finding, at the outset, the right spelling of each word and holding to it. This eachstudent must do for himself, consulting a good dictionary, as editors and editions are not always to bedepended on. Here it is the diphthongs that present the chief difficulty and call for the greatest care.

In pronouncing diphthongs sound both vowels, but glide so rapidly from the first to the second as to offer tothe ear but a single sound. In the publication of the Cambridge (Eng.) Philological Society on Pronunciationof Latin in the Augustan Period, the following directions are given:

The pronunciation of these diphthongs, of which the last three are extremely rare, is best learnt by firstsounding each vowel separately and then running them together, AE as aheh, AU as ahoo, OE as oeh, EIas ehee, EU as ehoo, and UI as ooee.

Thus:

AE (ahh) as in German nher; or as EA in pear; or AY in aye (ever); (not like a* in fate nor like AI inaisle).

AI (ahe) as in aye (yes).

AU (aho) as in German Haus, with more of the U sound than OU in house.

EI (ehe) nearly as in veil. (In dein, deinde, the EI is not a diphthong, but the E, when not forming a distinctsyllable, is elided.)

EU (eho) as in Italian Europa. (In neuterand neutiquam elide the E.)

OE (oh) nearly like German in Goethe.

OI is not found in the classical period. (In proin, proinde, the O is either elided or forms a distinct syllable.OU in _prout is not a diphthong; the U is either elided or forms a distinct syllable.)

UI (ooe) as in cuirass.

In the pronunciation of consonants certain points claim special attention. And first among these is thesounding of the doubled consonants. Whoever has heard Italian spoken recognizes one of its greatest beautiesto be the distinctness, yet smoothness, with which its ll and rr and ccin short, all its doubledconsonantsare pronounced. No feature of the language is more charming. And one who attempts the samein Latin and perseveres, with whatever difficulty and pain

Documents

Lloyd - Roman Pronunciation of Latin